Upright piano-forte



(No Model.)

' A B. IRVING.

UPRIGHT PIANO FOR'VIB.

No, 461,833. Patented 001;. 27, 1891".

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

ALEXANDER l3. IRVING, OF COLORADO SPRINGS, COl'.OltADO.

UPRIG HT PIANO-FORTE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 461,833, dated October 27, 1891. Application filed June 22, 1891. Serial No. 397,123. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern: Be it known that I, ALEXANDER B. IRVING, of Colorado Springs, El Paso county, Colorado, have invented certain new and" useful Improvements in Upright Piano'Fortes, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part hereof.

My invention relates to upright piano-l fortes; and the object of my invention is to produce an attachment for this class of musical instruments which vent the dissipation of the sound waves through the open badk of the pianos, and

which shall also chnduet such waves upward and deflect them towardthe front of the instrnment, whereby the full power and tone quality of the instrument shall be thoroughly developed and transmitted to the performer or other-persons occupying positions at the front of the piano-forte,

To the above purposes my invention consists in certain peculiar and novel features of construction and arrangement, as hereinafter described and claimed. In order that my invention m ay be fully understood, I will proceed to describe-it with refon the line 2 2 of Fig.1.

erence to the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of an upright piano-forte with my improved sound collector and deflector applied thereto, the view being toward the back of the piano-casing and the attachment being shown as partly broken away to expose certain interior parts. Fig. 2 is a; transverse vertical section of the same Fig. 3 isadetached perspective view of my improved sound collector and deflector. Fig. 4 is a detached view, in side elevation, of the upper part of the attachment, showing a connection for retaining the defleq in its several positions of adj ustment.

Previous to this invention it has been the usual custom to leave the backs of the casings of upright piauo-fortcs open, so that the sounding-board shall be exposed to view and with the purpose of permitting the full power of the instrument to be developed unrestrained by any mutiiing, which it has been assumed would result from closing the back of the casing. The result has been that a shall operate to pre-' large percentage of the sounds produced by the instrument have been dissipated through the back of the instrument and have been lost to a considerable extent to the pertprmer or listener occupying a position at thefront of the instrument. evident to any one who will first place himself at the front of an upright piano of the usual construction and listen to achord struck by the performer, and then change his position to the back of the instrument and listen to a repetition of the chord. The volume of sound received from the back of the instrument is at least fifty per cent. greater than that received from the front of the same, and certain desirable qualities of the tone-such as the cello or singing to11c of the instru 1ncntare not fully developed. As will be seen from the ensuing description, my im proved attachment collects the tones which have heretofore back of the instrument, solidifies such tones, develops their full harmonic qualities, and finallydellects them powerfully from the back of the instrument and out over the front of the same.

Referring now to the parts by numerals of reference, 1 designates the casing of an up right piano-forte. It is to be understood that this piano-forte may be of any of the various types of upright piano-fortes, its action or 0pcrat-ivc parts being immaterial-to thceifcctive application cl. my invention, and therefore not being shown. .3 designates the pin-block, and 3 thcsouuiling-board, of the instrument. As usually constructed the pin-bloclc 2, which is located in the upper part of the rear of the casing, is retained in such position by any desired number of vertical supports 4, the lower ends olwhich rest upon the back part of the base of the frame of the instrument, and upon the upper ends of which rest the said pin-block. The top of the casing 1 is partially closed by a top board 6, to the front edge of which is hinged a lid 7, b openingor closing which it has been endeavored to appreciably increase or diminish the volume of sound emitted by the instrument.

8 designates the body portion of my improved attachment for this class of instruments, said body portion being preferably of suitablyscasoned wood, but permissibly of been dissipated through the his fact will be ins't'antly metal or of any other material which is capabio of receiving and transmitting in the manduced by the musical tones emitted bythe in struinent. This body portion is of such form and dimensions as to completely cover and surface. Uponthe inner or front surface of this body portion 8, at the vertical margins pieces 12. These side pieces are preferably of similar material to that of the body portion 8, and said side pieces diminish in width from their upper ends to their lower ends, as shown, andfor a purpose to be presently explained. To the inner surface of the body at the upper margin thereof, is-setion 8 from side to side thereof, of which arepreferably mortised into the upper ends of the side pieces 12, the said top pieces being preferably, although not necessarily, 0! a material similar to that of which the body portion 8 is composed. To the upper edge or margin of this body portion 8 is secured by suitable hinges 15, or by anyother connections which will permit its required movements, a deflector 16, which is also of wood, metal, or any othersuitable or preferred material, and which corresponds in length with the width of the body portion 8. This deflector 16 is of any desired width; bntif, as shown, its width is about one-half of the entirewidth of the top of the piano-casing the defiectorwill be found to operate satisfactoriiy. As shown, the outer or rear portion 17 of this deflector is cur ed downwardly, and

has been found to be a desirable form for said deflector; but it is to be understood that this precise form of deflector maybe varied at pleasure without departing from the essential spirit of my invention.

-The operation of this attachment is as follows: Before the musician commences this shown in dotted lines in Fig. 2-that isto say, so that the main or body portion of the deflector shall incline upwardly and forwardly, the precise amount of such elevation of the deflector being regulated to suit the musicians judgment. In order to support the deflector in more or less raised position, the attaching hinges 15, which connect the deflector to the upper edge of the casing, may be'niade sufliciently still to retain the defiector without other-aid. I have, however, shown in Fig. 4 an arrangement for accomplishing this purpose, which arrangement to said outer may or may not be employed, as preferred. In this arrangement a single arm 18, prefecably of metal, of ornamental appearance, is attached at its upper cud to one end of the deflector 10,,so as to extend downwardly and rearwardly therefrom conccn trically with the hinges 15. This arm works through a bracket 19, which is also preferably of metal and of ornamental appearance, and which is secured to the upper part of the corresponding side of the casing l. A set-screw 20 works through this bracket, and the inner end ofusaid'setscrew impinges upon the outer side of the arm 18. The arrangement is such that when the musician raises the deflector to the desired height he turns the set-screw so that it binds upon the arm 18, and thus retains thedefiector in the required position. It is to be understood that I contemplate various other means for controlling the action of the defiectorlti, and have illustrated and described this particular arrangementas being one embodiment of this idea. The musician also, if he so desires, raises the lid f the top of the waves or vibrations the waves rise instantly in great volume out through the opening between the upper margin of the body portion 8 of the attachment, and being caught by the deflector 16 are directed forwardly and with great force, volume,

as well as powerful.

The upward and rearward inclination of the body portion 8 of the attachment, due to 12, is materially advantageous, inasmuch as natural upward flow of the sound-waves in the space between the sounding-board 3 and the body portion 8.

IOC

IIS

- made a permanent;

tion with the usual sounding-board 3 similarly as d es the sec-end head of a drum, the sund-waves being concentrated between the two-parts and a sound of great power thus emitted. These two parts-ll1e sound- .ing-board and the body portion-nct as a si 11- gle hollow sounding-board.

The attachment is simple and COIHIHHEI' tively inexpensive in construction, and, as before stated, can be readily applied to all present types of upright pianos, or it can be part of pianos during their original construction.

Having thus described my invention, what Ielailh as new therein, anal desinto secure by Letters Patent, is-- 1. An improved attnchn'ient for uprightpiano-fortes, qomprising a body portion of vibratoty materiahside pieces attached to the front enrfae'e'of s id body portion and diminishing in width l rom their upper to their lower ends, and a movable delieetorattaehed stantially as set forth.

to the upper part'of said body portion, substantially a's'set fortlr 2. An improved upright, piano-forte provided at its rear side with a body portion of vibratory mat rial co rrespnnding in form and dimensions with the back of the casing and inclined upn-ardly and outwardly upon said back portion of the casing, and also forming a space between itself and the usual sounding-beard, and a movable deflector attached to the upper part of the body portion, sub- An improved upright piano-forte pro-, vided at its rear with a body portion of vibratory material formiuga space between itself and the usual sounding-board, a-deflectormovably attached to the upper part of said body portion, and a movable support: connected to the deflector and serving to retain the same in any desired position of adjustment, substantially as set forth.

4. An improved attachment for upright piano-forms, comprising-a continuous closed bod portion of vibratory material, side pieces attached to the front surface of said body portion and diminishing in width from their upper to their lower ends, and a movable deflector attached to the upper partof said body portion.

5. An improved upright; piano-forte provided at its rear-side with aeontinuous closed body portion of vibratory material 'and corresponding in form and dimensions with the back of the casing and inclined upwardly and outwardly upon said back portion'of the casing, and also forming a space between itself and the usual sounding-board, and a movable deflector attached to the upper part of the said body portion, substantially as set fort l.

.In testimony whereof I atiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

' ALEXANDER B. IRVING.

Witnesses:

JNO. L. Common, G. F. 'lHORPE. 

